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Chhattisgarh gets a pat for healthcare

RAIPUR: More than a decade after Chhattisgarh introduced a three year medical degree course to overcome shortage of doctors in the rural areas, the state is now getting praise from health experts for having introduced the three and a half year long medical course in the country.

"The three year medical course introduced by Chhattisgarh in 2002 had been able to raise 1,200 strong force of doctors, christened rural medical assistants, who have been deployed in public health centers in Maoists affected tribal districts of Bastar division. This had led to a sharp decline in IMR and MMR (7%) in the division, which tops the list of high performing areas," former Union health secretary Dr Sujatha Rao said at the inaugural function of the three-day workshop on Innovative Practices in Health. The workshop is being organized Chhattisgarh Academy of Administration in collaboration with the Centre for Innovative Practices, Hyderabad. After Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, the then state government launched the medical course, which was opposed even by the MCI and Indian Medical Association.

Earlier this year, Medical Council of India (MCI) has finally cleared introduction of the three-and-a-half-year long medical course, calling it BSc in Community Health.